Celestia almost spit out her tea. She had heard the thundering hoofsteps when they were but mere echoes, but it was still a surprise how loud the doors could be when they were burst down from the hinges.
“Sister!” rorared Luna, as the oak crashed on to the marble floor.
“Luna,” replied Celestia.
“Starlight Glimmer has stolen Starswirl’s time travelling spell!”
“I know.”
“I have seen her dreams! She’s going to undo the rainboom that binds Twilight and her friends together!”
”I know.”
”Why aren’t you doing something?”
Celestia sighed. It wasn’t out of weariness, but just to clear the airway before taking another sip. She motioned to the empty seat across her.
“Are you going to take a seat?”
”No!” Luna stomped a hoof. Probably had a snarl on her face, too - she was such a sight to behold when she was furious. “Celestia, I demand that you take action right now!”
”And I insist you behave,” Celestia replied coolly. She glanced at the guards and nudged towards the gaping hallway. They obliged hurriedly. Perhaps a bit too quickly, because what if Luna had been hostile and she needed the guarding -
“Do you not realize the fate of Equestria hangs in the balance?”
“When has it not? And please, try to keep it down.”
She set her cup away and looked up at Luna. Yep - fearsome fury all right.
“Sister,” she growled through clenched teeth.
”Yes, Luna.”
“Are those sound restriction runes I see in the corners of this room?”
“Very observant. As you must have been to find out about the theft.
””So you even knew I would do this?”
”I knew that if I didn’t do something, Luna,” said Celestia, standing up, “everyone in Canterlot would know. The tabloids would be on to us in seconds. What have I said about keeping calm?”
”But this is not the time to be keeping calm!” retorted Luna. “Starlight Glimmer is going to undo years, maybe even decades of harmony, and bring about the end times for the eons thereafter, and you’re just sitting here?”
”Yes.” Celestia drew in a deep breath, controlling the air in every syllable. She made sure to keep her eyes locked on to Luna’s. “Twilight Sparkle will handle it.”
What pretty eyes her sister had - all dark and elusive, but the cold that had been there before was now mostly just seriousness. It was a start. It had been a while since-
“You mean to tell me that you are entrusting an unprecedented event that could threaten the stability of time and space itself to some... some mare you picked up on a whim?”
“I’m sure Twilight would be very hurt to hear you refer to her as that,” snorted Celestia. “And, honestly, so am I. I thought you were friends?”
Luna rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t play goody two shoes with me. If we’re going to be frank with each other, I will say it out loud - I think you’ve really let yourself go in the past thousand years! From Chrysalis to Discord, and Sombra, and - and even Nightmare Moon, you have been shirking your duties as Equestria’s princess and guardian and I will not-”
“Ah-tut-tut,” interrupted Celestia, raising a hoof. “And whose fault is it that I had to do all that by myself?”
”I’ve moved on from my guilt. You can’t trip me with that. You made me get over it, remember?”
”Yes. Why exactly it was so difficult for you to do so is showing in full force. You need to let your mane down a bit more.”
“I always let my mane down!” shouted Luna. “I don’t even know why. It’s so much more comfortable tied up, especially in the bloody summers, but you keep on saying that.”
”My point exactly. It’s a metaphor, Luna. Take a seat.” When Luna remained rigidly upright, Celestia added a bit more punch to her glare. “Seat, Luna. Now.”
Head held high, and breathing burning - Celestia knew that Luna was doing that on purpose - the Princess of the Night stepped across the fallen doors, drawing up next to her, where she casted a shadow over her.
“Good. The tea will help you. It’s chamomile. Still warm.”
Celestia watched as Luna, her gaze locked on her, reached out for the teapot with a gentle tendril of magic.
The tendril proceeded to fling the teapot to the ground, upon which it fractured into a million pieces. Tea splashed everywhere, even on to herself, which was really not as tragic since her tone hid the tea stains almost completely.
Celestia didn’t need to see to know that her blood was trickling out of the wounds. First it was a bead. Then it was a splotch as surface tension spread it across the fibers of her fur. Then, when at last it became too big, it would fall - maybe drip right to the floor, or trickle down her leg.
“I would ask you to explain yourself,” said Celestia, “but I understand by the silence that you are implying for me to speak first. Well then. I see a certain alicorn has not yet grown to control her rash temper, and probably needs a time out in her bedroom despite her ridiculous age.”
“You sicken me, Celestia,” said Luna, her tone now a hush in the quiet. “With your patronizing attitude and utter disregard for the future. It reminds me why I rebelled against you in the first place.”
“I am not even going to justify that with a response.”
“No, but you did all right. You banished me to the moon when that happened! And I hate to say it, I really do - you know it-”
“But, Luna?”
”But what I see only serves to prove my suspicions. Celestia, you don’t really care about Equestria, do you?” Luna stepped back. “You allow devastating attacks and great evils to remain existing in the world, instead of destroying them completely as any sane leader would. You allow your subjects to suffer needlessly, be it by changeling abduction, traumatic fear, even financial destitution. And every time I ask you to do something about it, you either say ‘I know’ or ‘Twilight will handle it’. In fact, I’m wondering even if you still have all your powers together!”
At this, Celestia couldn’t help but frown.
“Look me in the eyes, Luna,” she said softly.
“What?” Luna turned to do so irritably. “Why-”
Then Celestia let her magic flow.
It wasn’t something she practiced often, or even knew fully for the matter. All she did was tap into a sort of will, a desire to impress, and there would be a lot of light and those cosmic bell jars associated with high-level magic, and a strange noise like breathing through a chipped tooth. The magic did most of the work by itself.
Oh, wait, thought Celestia, it's literally bells and whistles.
A while passed before Luna found her tongue again. She made an admirable, but ultimately fruitless effort to keep the jitters out of her voice.
“I suppose you still have your powers, then, sister.”
“Thank goodness I do,” said Celestia. She looked down and, with the smallest inclination, cleaned up the porcelain mess and their cuts.
“But you still have to explain how you can be so calm. Why does it seem like you don’t care, if you really do somehow know everything in advance?”
“I suppose I should tell you.” Now it was her turn to look away. “What if I told you I’ve seen how the situation plays out?”
”Foresight?” asked Luna.
“Not quite. Simulation. I’ve been running simulations of the future for the past thirty years, and jotting down the results.” Celestia stepped towards a shelf on the far end of the chamber and laid a hoof on the single, thick tome there. “As such, I know the outcome of every significant event that will happen, and have made countermeasures where Twilight and her friends, or other forces, do not resolve it satisfactorily.”
As expected, this was not enough for her. ”What is this simulation you speak of?”
This was it. Celestia had long figured out a simple explanation for the matter; now she just had to rehearse it. ”It’s a bit like foresight, really, except the means to find the result is calculation rather than purely thaumic. The calculations are powered by magic, but the fact that it is based on logical arguments and progression rather than blindly following leylines makes it more reliable.”
“And the mechanisms exactly-”
“I can show you the papers later.”
”It’s not that I want to know more,” said Luna. “I think you’re lying. For one, if you were doing this, how could I not have noticed?”
”It’s in the basement.”
”But I live there!”
“The other basement.” Celestia waved a hoof. “The point is, just trust me. This was something I commissioned, then realized nopony could do but myself. The algorithms, the magic, the setup - all my handiwork. So can you accept that my word is informed?”
”No, I can’t. At least, not until I see this simulation magic. This is too great of an event for even something as powerful as you say. Sister... I know you’re powerful.” Luna paused, kicked at a small piece of rubble. “If what you say is true, then you really are a chessmaster on a scale beyond my estimates. Even the times when you were captured by Chrysalis, or when Tirek took our magic... but are your calculations so rigorous that they could include every factor? Especially since this is time travel? You know that-”
“-that time is like a stream, and the smallest change in the past has great implications. Yes, I do. Which is why I’m saying to let Twilight handle it. No, the real point here,” Celestia said accusingly, “is that you still don’t trust me, even when I asked you to.”
“And you are dodging the question again,” said Luna. “There really is no simulation, is there?”
Celestia shrugged. “No.”
“I knew it!” Luna shouted triumphantly, though it was short-lived. “Then - why are you still-”
“If I can’t convince you with sophisticated measures, you’re not going to like my real answer. And that is: because I trust Twilight.”
Celestia picked up the tome. There was nothing in it, of course - it was just a dead prop she had set up. She had asked the royal librarian to bring up a blank but suitably used-looking book, and had watched as the bespectacled unicorn huffed and puffed down the road to the supplier’s. It would have been easier to just get it directly herself, but he needed the exercise.
“That still isn’t a reason for you to not solve it yourself,” said Luna. “You can’t just excuse away your responsibility as a ruler! And I acknowledge that Twilight has proven herself capable, but only because you force her into these situations.”
“Bingo.” She nodded. “That’s the very one. Twilight becomes more capable as she learns to handle problems on bigger scales.”
”She’s not your student any more, Celestia,” frowned Luna. “This is cruelty on a different scale altogether.”
”I can still teach her, Luna,” replied Celestia. “And this is not cruelty. This is the fate that we must bear as alicorns. You remember when we fought Discord? We were the only ones who could counter his magic, because only we understood how to use the Elements of Harmony.”
She moved to the nearest window, and took a breath of fresh air. “Tell me, what is a princess’s duty?”
”To uphold harmony.”
”And what is the best way to do that?”
”To solve every threat to harmony.”
”Yes. Now, then, Luna - do you think we are immortal?
””Of course,” scoffed Luna. “We exist on the cosmic plane. We’ve been around since nearly forever.”
”But that doesn’t stop you or I from being banished to the moon. Or Discord from being locked in stone. Or Tirek being kept in Tartarus. We may be immortal, but we are not immovable. I’ve been thinking about this long before your banishment, and the thousand years of solitary rule has only confirmed what I believe. Equestria needs a Plan B in case we go the way of all things. And that is Twilight Sparkle. She is younger than us, so even if we are in the end but mortal, she's got a later start on the clock. She is a unicorn so powerful that her body could survive alicornification, and her magical nature so strong that she maintained her form in the cosmic plane. And, more importantly, she hasn’t been around since forever.”
Celestia reached out a hoof and pointed to the city sprawled below. “It’s not unreasonable to expect technological progress. But you and I cannot deny that ponies surprise us with what they’re able to do. I, for one, was hoping that they wouldn’t figure out automation so quickly, but here they are, with their horrible smog and bothersome noise. The world is shifting so fast, and even its core values are changing. This city, this continent, Luna...” She shook her head. “Can you imagine a nation built on friendship, instead of power?”
Luna remained silent.
“Perhaps you can. I won’t underestimate a princess whose job is to supervise dreams. But you cannot fully realize it in the way Twilight can, because you were born in a much harsher time than this. Just as I was. Our first thoughts are of control and dominance. A show of force and strength to overwhelm our foes - because our foes would submit only to this, or so we believed. But even pure hatred and jealousy can be dissolved. Even chaos can be tamed.”
Celestia smiled and turned back to Luna. “I have been watching Twilight. More and more, she is learning independence - rather, co-dependence on her friends instead of me. She is maturing quickly, and really does believe that friendship can solve all things.”
”Because you told her that, and have been reinforcing it. What if she faces something that friendship cannot solve?” Luna bit her lip. “Famine. Plague. Even the collapse of cosmic order. What then, Celestia? I can’t help but feel you are pampering her instead of bringing her up in a proper ruler’s path.”
”Which is, again, why you should have just accepted the simulation. It’s because I trust her.”
”And that is not good enough reason for me!”
”Are you saying,” said Celestia, “that you do not trust my decision, which obviously is key to a much greater plan?”
”Oh, noo,” whined Luna, rearing back in mock horror. “Whatever gave that away?”
”Fair enough. I fell into that one.” Celestia sat back down and picked up her cup. A burst of magic reheated the tea to perfect temperature. “So then. Tell me what will put you at ease, sister. What’s your plan?”
”Go and apprehend the thief Starlight Glimmer,” said Luna. “Imprison her so that she may never cause harm again, and lock up the scroll so that nopony may ever abuse it.”
”The scroll was secured quite well last time,” said Celestia. “Who is to say that it will not be stolen again? Better yet, we destroy the scroll and Starlight Glimmer. Or, even better, we use the scroll to return to the past and prevent Starswirl from writing it.”
“But... but that was his life’s work. He was so obsessed with it... and he was doing it under your payroll, too.”
”He was doing it to impress you, Luna,” said Celestia curtly, “because he wanted you to be able to enjoy both daylight and moonlight. But surely you agree that this magic is too powerful for ponies. But - wait! What if somepony else in the future develops such a spell? Who’s to say that another Starswirl won’t appear, and make a spell that could wipe out the continent?”
”Now, Celestia-”
”Perhaps, by this logic, we should simply disable all magic instead. But then, if the pegasi abuse their powers to control the weather, we could have an imbalance on our hooves. No, we must also rid the pegasi of their wings-”
”Celestia-”
”And you see where I am going with this, Luna.”
”No, I do not.” Luna’s voice began to boom as she towered over Celestia. “You are conflating simple potential and risk. All I am asking you is that you get your damn cosmic self out of this castle and out there to do some work!”
”And I am telling you that my work is allowing Twilight Sparkle to handle these problems. Not just this one, but every one hereafter - until she learns that she should no longer do so. Then she will raise up a student, just as I did... or maybe she will find another way. That’s the magic of it.”
Just to infuriate her more, Celestia finished with a long, loud sip.
“I have seen the possibilities, Celestia,” said Luna coldly. “In every scenario where Twilight fails to stop Starlight Glimmer - and there are a lot of those - we wage war with our archenemies and lose.”
”Foresight?”
”Dreamsight.”
”So you tap into the potential of sleeping minds to run a leyline probe? That’s quite novel. You haven’t shown me that one before.”
”Stop sidetracking me, sister. The point is -” Luna pointed a hoof - “all of what you have said falls short of my predictions. You are unable to pick up the mess left behind if your Plan B does not succeed. This is why I am concerned, Celestia - the stakes are too high for you to play your silly idealistic games. You are too optimistic for a future we might have when the present is beckoning us to a much darker reality.”
Celestia stopped and mulled over this briefly.
“Did you try talking to the me you saw in those scenarios?”
”Sorry?”
”Did you try talking to those versions of me?” repeated Celestia. “Chances are that we are remarkably consistent, and probably refrain from using our powers even in such times, so that our subjects may grow and learn to fend for themselves. Did you see either of us on the battlefield?”
“Yes. In one dream when King Sombra returned unopposed, you were soundly defeated,” said Luna flatly.
“How shocking,” mused Celestia. “What a nightmare that is. I suppose I must touch up on my combat magic, then.”
”Are you mocking me?”
”I’d say by implying that Sombra could defeat me, you started it.” Celestia yawned and stretched. “Look, we’ve talked about this long enough. If you want to do something, go do it yourself. It’s a diarchy, after all - well, triarchy, and quadrarchy if you count the Crystal Kingdom. If, however, you have changed your mind, I would love to see you join me on the tennis courts.”
”No. No, I have not changed my mind! All you’ve been doing is dismissing my concerns. Sister, I...” Luna grit her teeth and blurted out: “I need you to actually do it, so I can see that you do care. Just... just give me something to base my trust on. Gaia knows how many times you've tricked me. It's not fair for you to keep asking me to trust you when you toy with me so much.”
Celestia tilted her head. “Ah. So while I was using this as a test for Twilight, you want to use this as a test for me.”
Luna nodded reluctantly.
“Oh, Luna. I’m so sorry. I’ve been harsh on you. You're right, I have been quite slippery.” She stood up and offered a hoof. “Come here.”
Cautiously, Luna drew near into a stiff hug. Celestia leaned forward and felt her squirm briefly as she closed her embrace. The smell of Luna's mane, of stardust and velvet, was comforting - a very old memory that had not been stirred in a long while.
“So you’ll do it?” asked Luna.
“Well, I’ve already done something, and I hope it’s enough,” said Celestia. She squeezed her eyes shut. “Let me see... here we go. I'll show you Starswirl’s time travel spell.”
Her horn glowed and filled the room quickly with a golden aura. From the aura, a dark quill took shape and drifted through the air, scribbling with an unexpectedly solid scratching noise. It started from the corner of the room and kept going, in neat lines, across the walls, until every face was covered in letters.
“This...”
“This is Starswirl’s time travel spell,” said Celestia, eyes still closed.
“But this is much longer than what was on the scroll,” protested Luna.
“It is, isn’t it?”
“Wait.” Luna frowned and stared at a section. “The scroll’s part was only this. What’s all this other stuff?”
”You can read it in your spare time, Luna, but I think you’ve got the gist of it.”
With a sudden snap like a firecracker exploding, the aura and words vanished.
“You... destroyed Starswirl’s original spell?”
”Not all of it. A functional enough summary was left in the scroll which Twilight took - and which Starlight stole.” Celestia tapped her head. “The only remaining trace of the rest is in here.”
”But then why even keep the summary?”
”You said it yourself. It was his life’s work, and he did it in honour of you. I cannot allow the full version to survive, but it would be wrong to eliminate his legacy.” Celestia smiled. “Of course, the scroll has had some modifications made. Needless to say, these are safeguards in place to prevent it going too far.”
”And you’re sure that the one Starlight Glimmer holds is, ah, sufficiently weakened?”
”Not enough to render it impotent, otherwise the challenge is meaningless, but weak enough to not allow cosmic impacts of a certain size.”
”And how big is that?”
Celestia sighed. “Would you trust me that it is enough if I tell you?”
”Maybe.”
“Well, just believe me when I say that it’s small enough to handle.” Celestia looked up. “If you excuse me, the trainer is being paid by the hour, and I’m already ten minutes late.”
As Luna watched Celestia disappear through the hallway, pulling the doors back up as she left, she could not help but review the image in her mind of the section before the scroll’s. There were terrible implications in those clauses, enabling feats of power Luna hadn’t even fathomed. That was half a page of four. And that was just one of the spells that Celestia had destroyed. How many Starswirls and time travel spells had emerged in the millenia of her absence? What were the countless acts Celestia had to perform to form Equestria into the way it was today?
And for her to trust Twilight to handle this...
Luna remembered the times before her banishment, when it was just the two of them. Equestria had been pretty well off, all things considered, with an order enforced by their power against the twisted creatures that encroached their borders by the hour. But it had not been perfect. It had relied on power, fostered it, and encouraged the seeking of it, which inevitably led to its abuse. From their own subjects, and even herself.
An Equestria founded on friendship. Could such a thing exist? Would somepony find a way to abuse it?
More importantly, was a future brighter than she could imagine worth the risk of a future as horrible as she had seen?
Luna headed back down to the basement, making mental notes on the literature she needed to catch up on. She wasn’t going to pursue Starlight Glimmer, but she wasn’t going to be unarmed should the worst case come to pass.
And, of course, she had to check to make sure Celestia didn’t have a second basement hidden somewhere. Most likely there was not. But if there was, it would probably be a more satisfying experience than trying to wrestle answers out of her.
Author's Note
Post-production blog and thoughts on the episode are in the link. Thanks for reading, liking and commenting!
